The Heart Determines Actions

There is an old saying: "Your actions speak so loud I can't hear a word you are saying." And, another one: "Actions speak louder than words." Our actions prove what is inside.

When we become born again we are changed, we hate the sin we used to love and want to run from it. If there has not been a drastic change in our desires, then we were never born again.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

No one just happens to fall into sin, it is first fostered day after day in the heart before it can come out in actions.

A thief has bitterness and anger in his heart before he decides that he may take whatever he wants from anyone he desires.

An adulterer fosters attitudes of anger and hate before they decide to cheat on their spouse.

A liar fosters bitterness, anger and selfishness before he decides to deceive others.

That's why God said that the first two commandments were the most important, because if we obey those, if we love those, then we will not commit cheating, left or lying. Let's review those two commandments.

Matthew 22:36-40 "36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

If we love the Lord with all our hearts and our neighbors as much as we already love ourselves, then we will do no harm to others. Our first thought will be to do what is loving, kind and helpful for others first placing ourselves last.

Mark 7:21-23 "21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy , slander, pride and foolishness. 23 "All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

When we become born again, Christ writes His law on our hearts, we don't have to try to follow them, they become a part of us and we love them.

Those who are still trying to obey the ten commandments in their flesh, do not understand the concept that the commandments are inter-woven into every part of any believer. When we stray, we have a sense of shame that we may have disobeyed and disappointed God.

The Challenge of Bullies

Bullies have one goal in mind, to devastate the person they have targeted. Their goal is to alarm and frustrate their victim. When we respond in anger, they have accomplished their goal.

If we love the bully, we will not allow them to see their words or actions as effective. They need to see that their tactics don't work, that they are not able to make us hate them giving them the excuse that we deserved what they did.

Bullies only have power over us if we respond to them. I was once told by a wiser older lady that when I encounter this rudeness, I should just begin praying to the Lord out loud, turning it all over to Him. That was very good advice. The bully will either feel ashamed or if he is hardened he will leave because God becomes the power and not him. God can lead us as to what action or words we need to take.

One thing is for sure, the Holy Spirit in us can give us whatever we need to be Christlike in spite of the attacks of others.

It doesn't matter what the bully does, we are to seek to be Christlike. It would be good to read about the life of Christ and His responses to those who mistreated Him.

There isn't much we can do about the bully, but we can arm ourselves with Scriptures that tell us what we should be and do, here are a few;

Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

Matthew 15:18 "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person."

Proverbs 16:24 "Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body."

Proverbs 13:3 "Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin."

Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

Proverbs 21:23 "Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble."

Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."

Here is the one that is hardest to submit too, but brings the greatest joy to us and perhaps the bully;

Romans 12:14 "Bless them who persecute you: bless, and curse not."

With God's help, through prayer and meditation on His Words, we can be what we should no matter what the circumstances.

We Are Not Saved By Avoiding A Particular Sin

I have recently read an article by someone who claimed that the test that indicates we are saved or not saved, was whether or not we were in an adulterous marriage. I strongly disagreed with this for the following reasons:

One particular sin is not the test that one should take to determine if someone is saved. The test is whether or not they have the fruits of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:21-22 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."

IF these things are not present and there is no desire to seek God, then those are the tests, not any particular sin. The lack of desire to please God, the continual rejection of His principles are indicators of someone who is not born again. A believer is ashamed when they are confronted with their sin. A non-believer will fight to defend their sinfulness and refuse to turn from it, even declaring that they are not sinning.

We make a huge mistake when we evaluate a person's salvation based on one sin. The sin may mean that the believer is in sin right now but possibly feeling guilt and may turn from it later. A believer may never leave a particular sin, however, they are still saved and will miss blessings in heaven.

1 Corinthians 3:15 "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."

Many unsaved people do not commit adultery, but their avoidance of this sin does not make them born again. We are not saved or lost by our sin.

1 John 2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:"

A child of God can and does sin, the sins vary from thoughts of adultery to acting out of adultery, but the sin of the thought and the act are all the same in God's eyes.

Matthew 5:27-28 "27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

In other words the person who lusts after a woman is coveting her in his heart, Christ says that is the same as if we committed adultery because in both cases we are desiring something that belongs to someone else. All sin begins in the heart.

A believer has an advocate because he has been born again by the Holy Spirit of God, but a non-believer has no advocate because he does not belong to God. God chastises those who are His when they sin, they have consequences in this life and if they don't confess it, they will have lost rewards in eternity, but their salvation remains.

Hebrews 12:6 "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."

We don't have to make sure who is saved and who is not, we merely have to warn those who claim to be believers of the chastisement of God, remind them that if they live a lifestyle of sin they may not be born again as they think. And, we must exercise discipline with them if they claim to be saved and will not turn.

What do we do with sinful thoughts as believers?

In order to keep from acting out the thoughts we have, we must redirect our thoughts. A temptation is not the same as pondering a sin we entertain in our hearts. When a temptation becomes a continual cogitating on something, as the thoughts build and even become obsessions, then we have entered into sin. A temptation should be rejected in the heart immediately and Philippians 4:8, along with other passages from God's word, should be meditated upon to thwart sinful thoughts. When we reject and fight the sinful thoughts with the Scriptures, we can rid ourselves of them and the acts will not occur.

2 Corinthians 10:5 "5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"

We know that all sin begins in the heart before any actions take place. The action cannot occur without first entertaining the thoughts, over time after much obsession with thoughts, the thoughts no longer satisfy, that is when the urges become actions.

Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

We don't have to fear "giving a believer an excuse to sin", as some would say. When we have been changed into a new creation by Christ our salvation is secure. Those who are continually worried about making sure that others stop a particular sin, are operating from a fleshly standpoint, based on a religion of works.

I warn believers of their sin, that they would stop the sin and begin to honor God. I challenge them if there is a lifestyle of sin, that they may not be born again as they thought. But I don't have to make sure for my own information whether or not someone is born again, because God already knows. I don't have to worry that someone may use "grace" as an excuse to sin because God is already looking into their hearts.

Far too many people are obsessed with keeping people from sin to keep them saved, And, keeping someone from sin does not make them saved.

When we understand that Christ changed our spirits into a new creation, but our flesh is still corrupted, our hearts desire to live righteously but our flesh is weak. No sin can come in the presence of God, that's why God gave us Christ to live in us. He looks at Christ in us and sees that we belong to Him, He does not look on our sinful flesh, but on the Spirit of Christ Who lives in us.

Romans 8:1-11
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."

You see, we cannot always know who is saved and who is not, but the Word of God gives us clues, our job is to challenge believers to greater holiness and to warn non-believers of hell and bring them the good news of salvation. Another part of that job is to warn those who think they are saved to ask the Lord if they really are.

2 Corinthians 13:5 "5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you [a]fail the test?"

Many of the people who are saying that salvation is by obeying the commandments, are very likely not born again themselves, if they do not understand salvation through faith by God's grace, then they don't understand what salvation is.

Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"

If you are born again ask the Lord to reveal sins to be confessed and cleansed from you. If you are not born again, ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you, read the Bible and find the way of salvation!